Moving platform or staircase apparatus for purposes of amusement or diversion



T. HEFFERNAN. MOVING PLATFORM 0R STAIRCASE APPARATUS FOR PURPOSES 0F AMUSEMENT OR DI`VERSION'.

A* APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1920. 1,354,744.

v"PATlazN'rl OFFICE. l j

THOMAS HEFFERNAN, or EAST MoLEsEY, ratei.annA

' MOVING rna'rroinvf oit ksrf'iirjimisny APPARATUS VFOR i VDIVERSIGN..

VSpecfcation'of Letters Patent..

PURPOSES OF .AMUSEMENT OR Patent-ed oct. 5, 1920.

Application filed May 3, 1920. Serial No. 378,598.

To all whom @'25 may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS HEFFERNAN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing` at 2 I-Iabelany Kent Road, East hielesey, burrey, England, have invented a new and useful Moving Platform or Staircase Apparatus for Purposes of Amusement or' Diversion, of which the following is a speciflcation.

My invention relates to apparatus of a type frequently erected at exhibitions, fairs and like places of entertainment, such for instance as those known as the joy wheel and witching waves, for the amusement or diversion of venturesome persons-and spectators.

The apparatus forming the subjectof my invention is in the form of a platform or of a staircase, circular or sinuous and has for its object to offer difliculties to the progress of persons walking upon or. along the same.

For this purpose the platform is made in sections which are adapted to be moved by mechanical or electrical means in various directions so that a person stepping-from one section to another will have difficulty in maintaining his balance. Or, in the case of a staircase the treads may be arranged to be moved in a similar manner.

In practice the platform or staircase will be preferably arranged between barriers or balusters suitably padded or protected to prevent injury to persons falling against them.

The movements of the sections may be toand-fro with relation to the barrier and the movements of adjacent sections in opposite directions.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, I will describe the same by reference being mounted upon shafts, c, c1 designed,

to be independently driven, the rollers b and b1 on the shaft c being respectively fixed to and free on the said shaft and vice versa with respect to the shaft c1, so that when the said shafts are independently rotated in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2, the belts a will be caused to travel in one direction and the belts al in the reverse direction. The belts a and al are designed to travel across a fixed platform d which will support the weight upon them, and across the said platform a series of barriers e extend which will constitute a continuous gangway f along which persons using the apparatus will be compelled to walk, these barriers e being of sufficient height and strength to support people leaning against them. el, Fig. l, indicates suitable padding on the barriers e to prevent injury to persons falling against them.

`With this arrangement it will be understood that a person entering at one end of the gangway fas indicated by the arrow l and stepping on the platform section or belt Z) will be moved from left to right, and as he steps on to the next section b1 he will be moved in the reverse direction, and so on over the whole length of the gangway.

In the drawing the gangway is arranged so as to provide a zig-zag course for the users and at the end, of each straight portion thereof a rigid or stable platform a2 is employed so that a person having passed over a straight portion can rest on the said rigid'platform if he so desires, before passing over the next straight portion and so on.

Instead of rotating the shafts c, c1 continuously, they may be rotated intermittently by means of mutilated gear wheels or other devices.

In some cases the platform instead of being made in the form of belts may be made of a series of rigid sections g, g1 as indicated in Figs. 3 and ll, the sections being mounted upon anti-friction rollers t and operated by means of cranks, z' on the shaft the. cranks being arranged so as to reciprocate the adjacent sections g, g1 in opposite directions.

This form of platform is also advantag'eously used in connection with a staircase, the treads of which are designed to be moved in opposite directions.

l. An amusement apparatus including a pathway ever which person may walk, a plurality of parallel endless belts extending transversely 'acrosssaid pathway, and means for simultaneously moving alternate belts in opposite directions transversely of the pathi- AWay. Y f ,p

V5 2; An amusement apparatus comprisinga tortuous pathway including several longi- V tudinal sections, a plurality of parallel endl" Z l less belts arranged side by side and extending transversely across the longitudinal sec- 'tions Vof Vs'aidpathWay, and meansfor simultaneously vmoving alternatebelts in oppositedire'ctions ltransversely of said longitudinal sections of the pathway.l THOMAS HEFFERNAN. 

